Prof. Rudalevige on ‘Monstrous Battle’ Over Leadership of CFPB

A “monstrous battle” is raging over who should lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), writes Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government Andrew Rudalevige in The Washington Post.

Commenting in the Post‘s political science blog Monkey Cage, Rudalevige said the CFPB has been a source of controversy since it was established by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, “both because it aggressively regulates financial institutions and because of its unusual organizational structure. The latter,” he continued, “is what’s in the news right now—in no small part because so many people want to restrain the former.”

The current crisis, said Rudalevige, was sparked by the recent resignation of CFPB director Richard Cordray. President Donald Trump named Mick Mulvaney—who is already director of the Office of Management and Budget—to head the bureau. However, CFPB deputy director Leandra English claims she is legally entitled to assume leadership of the office and has filed a lawsuit.